Tigers Advance to First-Ever NCAA National Championships
5/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
May 7, 2005
Complete Results
LUBBOCK, Texas - For the first time in school history, the Missouri women's golf team has qualified for the NCAA Division I Women's Golf National Championship, thanks to its third-place finish Saturday at the NCAA Central Regional, held at The Rawls Course.
The Tigers, under fourth-year Head Coach Stephanie Cooper, hadn't even qualified for the NCAA Regionals until 1998, but since then have made seven of the last eight tournaments, including this year. Missouri is one of 24 teams that have advanced to the national championships, which will be held May 17-20, at the Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore.
Mizzou will be heading Northwest thanks to an aggregate four-player team score of 14-over-par 302 to give the Tigers a three-day score of 41-over 905. Auburn (+32) registered a seven-stroke win over Texas A&M thanks to a 5-over 293 on Saturday, while the Aggies finished two strokes ahead of the Tigers. Joining these three teams from the Central Regional at Nationals will be Arizona State (+42), Tulsa (+44), Purdue (+44), Michigan State (+45), and Arkansas (+51). Texas, which began the day tied for seventh, finished a stroke out of the running in ninth.
"This is a heck of a birthday present," said Head Coach Stephanie Cooper, who celebrated her birthday today. "We felt pretty good after we finished, and a lot of the teams were tied with us or behind us, and we all kind of breathed a sigh of relief once we got in the clubhouse. I was a little bit teary-eyed after we finished, and I think everyone was pretty emotional."
Senior Mindy Bullard (Warrensburg, Mo.) carded an even-par 72 to lead the Tigers on Saturday; it was four strokes better than her best round Thursday, and just one stroke off the team's best round for the tournament. The round - one of only seven at par or better - allowed Bullard to jump from a tie for 42nd to a tie for 20th individually.
Bullard was joined in that tie for 20th - tops among the Tigers this weekend - with senior Maria Ohlsson (Vetlanda, Sweden), who shot a 4-over 76 on Saturday. Junior Kelli Strubinger (St. Charles, Mo.) also shot a 76 on Saturday to put her in a tie for 28th. Junior Denise Knaebel (Moberly, Mo.) was the fourth Tiger to finish in the top 30 and joined Strubinger at 12-over 226 after her closing 79. Freshman Maddie Augustsson (Solvesborg, Sweden) recovered from a mild concussion suffered prior to Friday's round to close with a 78. She finished in a tie for 77th.
Bullard and Knaebel were each assessed one-stroke penalties - Knaebel on Friday on No. 7, and Bullard today on No. 8 - for their balls moving slightly due to the wind once they went to address during putts.
"Mindy was huge for us, she looked so good today. She had a lot of desire and determination. I didn't see too much of her today, but you can't say enough about a 72," Cooper said. "We had those two ball-address penalties, and that cost us two shots this weekend. Those things happen, but when you're talking this close for a regional, you hope it doesn't come down to one or two shots.
"Maddie came back and played well today; we needed that. Denise kinda struggled and made some bogeys, but it was a pretty solid day from everybody. At this tournament, it's so critical to have four players play well, and we had five. If we were counting on one or two people, this field was too deep to do that. They key for us was the first round and it gave us a cushion."
When asked about the realization that the 1994 Mizzou alumna was going to lead her team to nationals for the first time ever, Cooper replied, "There's no ceremony. I just had someone come up and hand me a packet (containing preliminary information on nationals) even though there were still some teams out on the course. I'm sure I'll get some calls from our alumni. It's good to continue the success that our Olympic sports have had this year for the athletic department. It's good to prove to ourselves that we belonged in this arena. We didn't win, but we're going to nationals!"
Auburn's Diana Ramage, who had led the first round before faltering to a 77 on Friday, rebounded with a tournament-best 67 on Saturday to win the individual title by a commanding seven strokes. Second-round leader Lisa Ferrero of Texas fell to a tie for fourth following a 79.
